Transit services nearly back to normal

Published 8:21 am, Tuesday, February 12, 2013

More than three days after a blizzard of historic proportions struck the region, mass transit systems are lurching back to what passes for normal.

Many trains are running and major highways are clear. State Department of Transportation crews are in the process of trucking away piles of snow on the side of highways.

No major accidents have been reported on Interstates 95, 84 or 91.

The Greater Bridgeport Transit District will resume bus service at noon on routes that have been fully cleared of snow, general manager Doug Holcomb said. There is no bus service this morning.

Service on GBTD Routes 7, 19 Express and 22 Express is cancelled for the entire day, he said.

Riders should expect some delays and detours when service resumes, the bus company manager said, and should check the Cleanup Status Update page at www.gogbt.com for details on the status of all GBT routes before heading out.

Metro-North Railroad is operating at about 75 percent of its weekday morning peak service, officials said Tuesday morning, including close to regular service between New Haven and South Norwalk. Regular service on the New Canaan and Danbury branch lines has been restored and service on the Harlem-Hudson Line is normal.

But the Waterbury branch line that runs from Bridgeport north through the lower Naugatuck Valley remains out of service today, and no alternate bus service will be provided.

"Since many roads remain closed in the New Haven area, many train crews are having difficulty reporting...in order to operate train service,'' said an advisory on the railroad's web page. The new M8 trains are performing well in the heavy snow, officials said, but they only make up about half of the fleet, officials said.

Metro-North employees continue to conduct aggressive snow clearing operations in the New Haven and Bridgeport yards and to clear track switches that allow trains to change from one track to another, spokewoman Marjorie Anders said.